Cincinnati, Columbus shine on working mothers list

Ohio fared well in a recent Forbes magazine ranking of how hospitable the nation’s 50 largest cities are to working moms. Cincinnati ranked the nation’s sixth-best metro area for working mothers, while Columbus came in 13th.

Forbes considered income, jobs, cost of living, health care, education, crime, public parks and other quality-of-life criteria when evaluating the cities.

Cincinnati ranked 30th in income, 30th in unemployment, sixth in living cost, 15th in health care, 10th in pediatricians, 15th in school quality, 26th in spending per pupil, 15th in child care, ninth in violent crime, 20th in property crimes and 29th in parks.

Columbus outscored Cincinnati on some measures (19th in income, 20th in unemployment, fifth in health care, 19th in spending per pupil, 19th in parks) but underperformed in others (seventh in living cost, 39th in pediatricians, 24th in school quality, 24th in child care, 16th in violent crime, 42nd in property crimes).

Cleveland finished in the lower half of cities surveyed, coming in at 34th in the country. It ranked 29th in income, 37th in unemployment, fourth in living cost, 43rd in health care, 13th in pediatricians, 45th in school quality, 12th in spending per pupil, 23rd in child care, 41st in violent crime, 21st in property crimes, and 41st in parks.

Advice: Consider how you might use these data when recruiting workers. Although Forbes framed the criteria as important to working mothers, they’re relevant to any worker with a family.